Migration Profiles Repository
Governments are increasingly recognizing Migration Profiles as a comprehensive data collection and capacity building tool for informed and coherent policy planning. To date, more than 100 migration profiles have been prepared ranging from short statistical overviews, to longer and more comprehensive reports based on extensive consultation and analysis of the migration situation of a particular country.
The importance of MPs has been repeatedly stressed since the 2009 Greece GFMD. These earlier discussions led to three GFMD thematic workshops in New York, Batumi and Manila in 2011, at the initiative of the Swiss GFMD Chair, and in cooperation with other governments and relevant international organizations. The thematic workshops in Chisinau and Abuja also addressed the issue of Migration Profiles.
The GFMD ad hoc WG on Policy Coherence, Data and Research has stressed the relevance of MPs in addressing the migration and development nexus in a comprehensive manner, supported their conceptual development, and advocated the use of MPs as a tool for evidence-based policy making. The ad hoc WG on Protecting and Empowering Migrants supported the thematic workshop on MPs held in Manila.
Migration Profiles were highlighted during the GFMD 2012 Working Session on the Platform for Partnership. The Government of Morocco presented an informal survey it has endorsed along with the Government of Switzerland, as Co-chairs of the as hoc WG on Policy Coherence, Data and Research, to evaluate the impact of MPs and EMPs. The survey was jointly administered by the IOM and ICMPD and was sent by the PfP to all GFMD focal points in 2013.
In response to the recommendations made by governments, this Migration Profiles Repository was created in the framework of the GFMD Platform for Partnerships, by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and in close cooperation with the European Commission (EC). The MPs Repository offers key information on the Migration Profile (MP) and Extended Migration Profile (EMP) concept and methodology for policymakers, gathers existing country profiles in one central location and provides a useful guidance tool and background information on MPs for governments, international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders interested in developing and implementing MPs. It is important to note that the different MPs/EMPs collected in this repository significantly differ in terms of format, content and objectives. Extended MPs emphasize the importance of national ownership and sustainability of the MP exercise by engaging in consultations with a broad range of stakeholders including the civil society.
The MP repository aims to promote the discussion on the MP approach and a common understanding of the MP concept, highlight good practices and common challenges, avoid overlapping of MP exercises in the same country, encourage the sharing of MP experiences, and enhance the potential for collaboration with civil society.
The MPs Repository is structured into three parts: